Here is Yacksel Ríos, the embodiment of baseball as we know it in 2018. He turns 25 next month, was a 12th-round pick in the 2011 draft, and had not tasted the majors until last August. He was due to become a minor-league free agent; the Phillies had little to lose by auditioning him, so they did. He pitched 13 times last season, most in the middle innings, and produced a 4.41 ERA in an unmemorable stint. He did not make the team out of spring training this year.

Last week, he fired a baseball at 99.3 mph.

“I never threw that before,” Ríos said.

Rick Kranitz, the Phillies pitching coach, had a suggestion in April. Ríos needed to reduce the stress on his arm by shifting it to his legs. The 6-foot-3 Puerto Rican applied some adjustments. His fastball averaged 94.2 mph in April. It has risen to 97.1 mph in three May appearances.